In what turned out to be a pivotal return for the Ultimate Fighting Championship to its birthing grounds of Denver, Colorado, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones proved he is every bit the phenom he is touted as.
Jones masterfully picked apart former champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the UFC 135 PPV headliner before submitting the MMA icon in the fourth round with a tightly executed rear naked choke. The loss marked the first time in Jackson’s UFC career that he had been stopped in the Octagon and the first since a 2005 TKO loss to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the PRIDE Fighting Championships.
Humble in defeat, Jackson gave credit where credit was due and proclaimed that there isn’t a fighter in the division that can defeat Jones. It is a statement echoed by a large portion of the MMA audience and one that is extremely difficult to argue against.
After all, “Rampage” was at his very best last night. Jackson dedicated himself in training for this fight more so than he had in any of his previous bouts and he couldn’t inflict even the slightest amount of damage to the youngest champion in UFC history.
At 24 years old, Jones now holds back-to-back title victories and finishes over two MMA legends in “Rampage” Jackson and “Shogun” Rua. Such a feat was unheard of until Jones came along and the question is now starting to arise if he truly is the most impressive champion in the UFC today.
Surely, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will have a problem with that statement. Jones has finished two opponents in championship fights where Silva has already defended his throne a record of nine times.
Silva has dominated every victim put in his path since destroying Rich Franklin to win the title in 2006, but if you look at the level of competition he has faced, some of his opponents didn’t belong in the Octagon with him.
With decisive finishes over Franklin (twice), Dan Henderson, Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami, it would be foolish to deny Silva as one of the greatest champions in UFC history, but some of his other victories aren’t as legendary as some like to believe.
Silva is the only current title holder to jump up in weight on occasion and demolish opponents in the 205 lbs division, but knocking out James Irvin and Forrest Griffin isn’t something to be overly impressed with. Irvin was a guinea pig with a mediocre record that was simply used as a way to give Silva a dominant win in his light heavyweight debut.
Griffin was a former champion and ranked in the top 10 of the division, but his glass jaw had been exposed several times before. Of course, the manner in which Silva dismantled the original Ultimate Fighter winner was remarkable but it was to be expected.
In defense of his middleweight title, Silva has gone the distance with lesser talent such as Demian Maia and Thales Leites and didn’t look overly imposing against Patrick Cote. Maia is arguably still a top ranked opponent, but neither Leites nor Cote are employed by the UFC at the present time.
This isn’t an attempt to discredit Silva but when you define a great champion, quality should be more significant over quantity. The fact is, Jones has beaten better quality opponents in his last two fights than a majority of Silva’s wins, and Silva has beaten many great fighters.
Even Silva’s come from behind submission win over Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 has to be considered a great performance, but Sonnen is not a legendary fighter in the sense that Jackson and Rua are—although the proud Republican will tell you otherwise.
Another thing you have to look at is age. Jones is 12 years younger than Silva and is dominating a weight division, whereas Silva didn’t hit his stride until his early 30’s. When Silva was a young fighter he was losing to mediocre talent such as Luiz Azeredo and Daiju Takase. Point being, Jones acquired greatness much quicker than Silva did.
If Jones adds Rashad Evans to his list of finished victims, that would be three consecutive stoppages over three former champions. Silva hasn’t done that yet. In fact, even though Silva stopped Henderson and Franklin in back-to-back fights, Franklin was the only one to hold a UFC title.
Both champions are impressive but Jones has an edge over his middleweight counterpart and many in the MMA community are starting to recognize it.
One thing is for sure—there is a new dream fight that MMA fans are dying to see. Georges St-Pierre can stay at welterweight while Jones and Silva battle it out at 205 lbs to determine who the most dominant fighter in the world truly is.
Mitch Ciccarelli is the sexiest columnist in MMA. In addition to being the longest running featured columnist in B/R MMA history, Ciccarelli is also currently serving in the United States Air Force. He is a man of many wives, including Olivia Wilde and Olivia Wilde’s twin sister Olivia Wilder. Follow him on Twitter @mitchciccarelli.
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